Preparation

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the linguine in the boiling water according to package directions until al dente. Reserve about 3/4 cup of the cooking water and then drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, finely grate 1-1/4 tsp. of zest from the lemon and squeeze 2 Tbs. of juice. Toss the shrimp with 1/2 tsp. of the zest and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper.

In a 12-inch skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat until the foam subsides. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic just begins to brown, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook until just opaque, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and lemon juice, bring to a boil, and cook until slightly reduced, 1 minute.

Add the drained pasta, mascarpone, and 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Toss well, adding more cooking water as needed, until the pasta and shrimp are coated and the sauce looks creamy. Remove from the heat. Toss in the remaining 3/4 tsp. lemon zest and the chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Add to List

Ingredient Spotlight

Reviews

Rate or Review

Reviews

One of the best shrimp dishes ever! I've made this several times, it's easy, quick, always delicious and can handle additions such as sauteed veggies or substitutes such as cream cheese when one forgets to stock up on marscapone.

We had this for dinner tonight and loved it. It's a forgiving recipe that tolerates additions and substitutions really well. I added sliced asparagus to the pasta while it was boiling and substituted a combination of regular cream cheese and non-fat sour cream for the mascarpone with great results. (If you decide to substitute a non-fat or low-fat dairy product in place of the mascarpone, don't forget to stabilize it with cornstarch or flour to prevent curdling. I used 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch to stabilize 2 tablespoons non-fat sour cream.)Just one caution: this may be easy to put together but it isn't quick. I spent about 45 minutes boiling pasta, zesting and squeezing lemon,peeling and slicing garlic, snipping chives and measuring wine and dairy products. It was well worth all the prep work but not a dish I'd want to make on an evening when I'm in a hurry to put dinner on the table.